The nation's highest court will review case disputing birthright citizenship.

The US Supreme Court has agreed to take on a landmark case that challenges a century-old constitutional right: guaranteed citizenship for people born on American soil.

On the inaugural day in office this winter, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aiming to end this practice, but the move was struck down by the judiciary after constitutional questions were brought forward.

The Supreme Court's eventual decision will ultimately support citizenship rights for the offspring of foreign nationals who are in the US without authorization or on non-immigrant visas, or it will end those rights entirely.

Next, the judges will schedule a date to hear the case between the administration and claimants, which involve foreign-born parents and their infants.

A Constitutional Cornerstone

For more than 150 years, the 14th Amendment has enshrined the principle that all individuals born in the United States is a US citizen, with exceptions for children born to foreign diplomats and personnel of occupying armies.

"Anyone born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."

The contested presidential order sought to refuse citizenship to the children of people who are whether in the US illegally or are in the country on short-term status.

The United States belongs to a group of about a minority of states – primarily in the Americas – that provide automatic citizenship to all those born within their borders.